


Starlight

by turnedherbrain



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Escapism, F/M, Fluff, Hope, Leotilda, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 17:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15029801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turnedherbrain/pseuds/turnedherbrain
Summary: Post s3 ep6 fic. Spoilers :)This is a fluffy, escapist one-shot designed to make everyone feel happy-ish.





	Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> The first part of the fic happens earlier on, when they’ve just got together. In the second part of the fic, I’ve assumed that neither Mattie nor Leo know about the events that happened in the Hawkins’ house in ep6 as yet. I figure they have more than enough to deal with anyway.

‘Hmnnnmmm,’ sighed Mattie: a semi-sleepy sigh that reflected her near-secure contentment. 

She’d never got the whole princess myth. Even now, she didn’t believe in fairytale romance, but... she was beginning to understand that idea of wholeness, of one person as a half, connecting with another perfect fit.

There was no logic to it. It was... just because. Her waking hours were almost joyful. Her sleep was filled with brighter dreams.

If she’d told this future to herself, even two months ago, that self would have scoffed and smirked and made some sarcastic remark.

Yet now: here she was. Here they were. Her hand palm-down on Leo’s chest, his hand protectively over hers. The rise and fall of his breathing lulled her, and their close contact drew on a drowsy hibernation.

‘What time is it?’ he whispered, feeling her stir but reluctant to move from their embrace.

She reached out lazily and squinted one-eye-open at her phone’s blue light, the time emblazoned on the screen. ‘Ummm... it’s way too early. Look: the stars are still out.’

He laughed and shifted ever so slightly, peeping through the curtains. ‘Are you sure? It looks more like the sunrise to me. The sky’s turning pink.’

‘No. Definitely starlight. I can see it,’ Mattie smiled broadly while her eyes remained closed, and snuggled down further. ‘And an owl. I could swear an owl just hooted.’

‘Not the morning lark then,’ he replied, wrapping his arms more tightly around her: creating a safe sanctuary of coupledom that set up barriers against the world. 

‘No. I’m certain it’s not the lark.’ Mattie murmured, already falling back into a serene sleep of undisturbed tranquility. 

...............

Fast-forward through the days and nights.

Now, she was fully awake. Alarmingly awake with this sudden see-sawing news.

It was her insistent interior beat as she trod the blank corridor to the uni library. That competed with her mother’s predicted voice; that special ‘I’m hugely disappointed and I’m trying not to show it but my tone will let you know’ timbre. That voice, the unspoken words berating her with all the sensible, sane, practical advice she’d been given since before Year 7 Biology. It only takes one time. 

Yes. One year-long-wait of time, and more.

And this was the time. She’d already started to think of ways she could accelerate her studies, crunch two semesters into one. Because she had a wild notion that they could just leave - go far, far away, to the most uninhabited island. No router, no wifi, no tech. Just the three of them, making a family. Undoing all the wrong and putting it right. 

She would miss her home though. Soph. Toby. Her mum of course. Even her dad. He’d redeemed himself, managing to scrape past the line by a nose. 

Turning into a narrower corridor, she saw her new coursemate waiting expectantly at the library turnstiles. For some reason, she stopped. Then reversed a step, leaned back against a clandestine wall and breathed out all her thoughts to the silent air. She couldn’t have a confidante now. It would be her, and Leo, and this tiny collection of cells morphing to make a life. It would be just them.

Her coursework could wait another day. She had every excuse, right now, to be re-tracing her path towards home. As if in anticipation, her mobile buzzed with the personal ringtone and skewed selfie face she’d most wanted to see. Cradling her phone to her ear, lips pressed close to the mouthpiece, she answered. ‘Well?’

‘Aren’t you supposed to be in class? Or studying? Or... something.’ A pretend admonishment. Just the sound of his voice, that reassuring, welcome sound, made her laugh. 

‘What are you doing?’ she accused him lightly.

‘Experimenting.’ was the one-word, mysterious reply.

‘Hmmmm. Sounds like fun. Want some help?’

‘Nope. Not... quite... yet. Ouch.’

She heard a clunk, like the phone had dropped out of his hand. 

‘Leo? What on earth are you up to?’

‘Hnnmmmm. You’ll have to come home and see.’ His tone was deliberately teasing, tantalising. She could imagine his grin at the end of the line, and wished she could slink through the receiver right now.

‘I’ll be back in ten minutes.’

‘OK. But don’t rush. Because it’s not’ (clunk. ouch.) ‘ready just yet.’

...............

Eleven minutes later, and Mattie was hanging out with expectant anticipation on the first floor landing. The house was strangely quiet, except for a few muffled clunks and bangs emanating from her bedroom.

Leo sidled round the door, mimicking a look of complete surprise upon seeing her. ‘Mattie. I... I thought you’d be at lectures all day... I...’

‘Hah bloody hah,’ Mattie stood perilously close, hand on door handle. ‘Never try to make it as an actor. You’re terrible.’

They both broke into giggles, and at that very moment Joe passed them pensively on the landing. ‘Morning,’ he attempted to say, ignoring their fits of laughter. He thought he’d leave them to it. Whatever ‘it’ was. He didn’t want to know.

As Joe tramped on down the stairs, Leo whispered. ‘Not ‘morning’.’

‘Leo,’ grinned Mattie, ducking to get past him and opening the door. ‘Stop talking in riddles and let me... 

ahhh.’

She breathed out a sigh to the silent air for the second time that day. But this was a sigh of happy distraction. For inside her room were a hundred or more starry lights, pinned up against the walls, strewn over the ceiling; draped over the curtain rail, the wardrobe frame. Everywhere.

‘So you don’t have to pretend it’s starlight.’

‘You. You’re...’ she was partially lost for words. 

‘Insane?’ He suggested. Mattie shook her head, lips pressed together. 

‘An idiot.’ Leo tried to guess again, pulling the door closed behind him so the shimmer of stars was the only light in the room.

‘Not an idiot. A romantic fool. I love it!’ she laughed and pulled him much closer. ‘But you know, because it’s night-time...’

‘Yes?’

‘We really, really need to go to bed.’

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve blatantly stolen from a scene in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for the ‘owl/lark’ bit (Shakespeare had a nightingale/lark though so that’s OK ;))
> 
> Plus Muse songs as always provide inspiration for ‘Humans’ fics. In this case - I was listening to Starlight.


End file.
